Blessed Meekness

Psalm 131:1

    Psalm 131 is another brief Psalm being only one verse more than Psalm 117 which is the shortest chapter in the Bible. And in verse 1 the psalmist declares, "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or things too high for me." Our versification helps us understand this when it says (PRC Psalter):

    Not haughty is my heart,
    Not lofty is my pride;
    I do not seek to know the things
    God's wisdom has denied.

    The things "too high for me'' are things God's wisdom had denied him knowledge of in this life. And to be haughty and proud is to act and think that we know better than God what ought to happen,

    How about it? Were you fully satisfied with what God did yesterday? Are you willing to leave all things up to Him today? We must bow before His will. We do, without much thought, often pray "Thy by will be done,'' but only a few minutes later we are so apt to pray that He will change things to satisfy our plans and ambitions.

    Yet when God performs works which we do not understand, we should go in our thoughts to the cross of Christ. Many devout children of God stood around that cross wondering why it had to happen and wishing it had not taken place. But after the day of Pentecost they understood; and so do we.

    There are those events that we call accidents. There are works of God that touch our families and lives and seem to deny His love and make us question His wisdom. But by all means do not in haughtiness and pride think for one moment that you could have run the world better, or ordered in greater wisdom the things in your life. Be sure that all God's works are wrought n inscrutable wisdom. Never did He make a mistake. Never did things slip out of His control.

    There are things too high for us. But in childlike meekness leave all things in God's hands. He knows the best means and the best way to fulfill all His promises to us. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Read: Romans 8:28-39 
Psalter versification: #366:1

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Samuel 14 
II Samuel 15:1-22 
  John 18:1-24 
Psalm 119:97-112 
Proverbs 16:8-9

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Quote for Reflection:

"This aspect of obedience to the Fourth Commandment is threatened today. There are leaks in the dike. There are those who attend only infrequently, missing entire Sundays or consistently missing one of the services every Sunday ("oncers"). There is the growing practice of missing the worship services, now and then, because they interfere with our pleasures, e.g., our vacation-plans. The Lord's Day is completely forgotten. It is used for traveling or for sightseeing, just as though it did not belong to the risen Christ, but to ourselves. The strange notion is found in the Church that the Fourth Commandment may be broken occasionally. Men suppose that, if they remember the Lord's Day 51 weeks of the year, they are warranted in forgetting it one week. What would these same people say if others would adopt this thinking in regard to the commandment against stealing, or the commandment against murder?

"But the Lord's Day gets in the way of my pleasures," says the man determined to enjoy his weekend vacation. Yes, the Law of God has a way of doing this. Throughout the Old Testament, the Sabbath-Commandment "interfered" with Israel's pleasures; and for this reason they broke it (cf. Isaiah 58:13 and Amos 8:5). May we bend and twist the Law to suit our pleasures? Or are we to plan our lives according to the law and to find our pleasure in doing what it says?

Our would-be vacationer persists, "But I work hard during the year, and I need some rest." To be sure, we need rest; and this needed rest is the rest of the Lord's house and the Lord's Word."

"Remembering the Lord's Day", Prof. David Engelsma